Synodic month length 29.45 days

Length of current 172 lunation is 29 days, 10 hours and 52 minutes. This is the year's shortest synodic month of 2013. It is 28 minutes longer than next lunation 173 length.

Lunation length shorter than mean

Length of current synodic month is 1 hour and 52 minutes shorter than the mean length of synodic month, but it is still 4 hours and 17 minutes longer, compared to 21st century shortest.

Lunar orbit position on 27 December 2013 Friday 12:00 UTC

True anomaly ∠336.4°

This lunation true anomaly is ∠336.4°. At the beginning of next synodic month true anomaly will be ∠353°. The length of upcoming synodic months will keep decreasing since the true anomaly gets closer to the value of New Moon at point of perigee (∠0° or ∠360°).

Moon before perigee

7 days after point of apogee on 19 December 2013 at 23:49 in ♋ Cancer. The lunar orbit is getting closer, while the Moon is moving inward the Earth. It will keep this direction for the next 5 days, until it get to the point of next perigee on 1 January 2014 at 21:00 in ♑ Capricorn.

Distance to Moon 380 666 km

Moon before ascending node

14 days after its descending node on 13 December 2013 at 10:10 in ♉ Taurus, the Moon is following the southern part of its orbit for the next day, until it will cross the ecliptic from South to North in ascending node on 28 December 2013 at 00:21 in ♏ Scorpio.

Draconic month

Moon before southern standstill

10 days after previous North standstill on 17 December 2013 at 01:00 in ♊ Gemini, when Moon has reached northern declination of ∠19.570°. Next 3 days the lunar orbit moves southward to face South declination of ∠-19.537° in the next southern standstill on 31 December 2013 at 04:49 in ♐ Sagittarius.